Apparatus and method for tamping particulate materials into a container

ABSTRACT

An apparatus is provided which when connected to the discharge end of a delivery hose for delivering free flowing particulate materials and reciprocated in a generally vertical direction during delivery of such materials compacts the materials into a container. The apparatus comprises a butt having an upper portion and a base, at least a portion of said upper portion decreasing in cross-sectional area from bottom to top, and a support means for attaching and aligning the butt below the discharge end of the delivery conduit so that the top of the butt faces the opening, and the longitudinal axis of the body is substantially in align with the longitudinal axis of the discharge end of the delivery conduit.

United States Patent [191 Landreville [451 Feb. 13, 1973 {73] Assignee:The

[54] APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR TAMPING PARTICULATE MATERIALS Dow ChemicalCompany, Midland, Mich.

[22] Filed: March 29, 1971 211 Appl. No.: 128,976

[52] U.S. Cl. ..l41/l2,53/124 B, 100/295,

[51] Int. Cl .....B65b 1/04, B65b 3/04 [58] Field of Search ..'.141/7l,73, 12, 98, 286, 80;

Primary ExaminerHouston S. Bell, Jr. At torneyGriswold & Burdick, BruceM. Kanuch and Lloyd S. Jowanovitz [57] ABSTRACT An apparatus is providedwhich when connected to the discharge end of a delivery hose fordelivering free flowing particulate materials and reciprocated in agenerally vertical direction during delivery of such materials compactsthe materials into a container. The apparatus comprises a butt having anupper portion and a base, at least a portion of said upper portiondecreasing in cross-sectional area from bottom to top, and a supportmeans for attaching and aligning the butt below the discharge end of thedelivery conduit so that the top of the butt faces the opening, and the[56] References Cited longitudinal axis of the body is substantially inalign UNITED With the longitudinal axis Of the discharge end Of thedelivery conduit. 2,712,407 7/1955 Bell et al. 141/73 2,766,782 ,l0/l956Bell et a1. ..l4l/73 10 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures From APPARATUS ANDMETHOD FOR TAMPING PARTICULATE MATERIALS INTO A CONTAINER BACKGROUND OFTHE INVENTION like. In the past, attempts have been made to compact.

these materials by employing various vibrators or rammers such as, forexample, the one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,719,029. However, noapparatusor method has been developed for simultaneouslyloading andtamping particulate materials into acontainer. Also,

. the material may be in a container which is too remote or large fornormal -compacting techniques to be employed.

The present invention pertains to an apparatus and method which isparticularly adapted to loading free flowing dry blasting agents intoboreholes, individual containers and the like. These free flowing dryblasting agents, e.g. such as those disclosed in US. Pat. Nos.2,975,046; 3,094,096 and 3,432,371 and other types generally known asANFO, are generally either prepackaged or bulk loaded.

Of the pre-packaged type there are two common methods of loadingemployed. In one the blasting agent is loosely packed into a paper orplastic bag which is opened in the field and the contents poured intothe blast hole. In the other method a package, e.g. a cylinder of paper,plastic or metal or the like, is filled with an explosive in amanufacturing plant to a high density by vibrating, ramming or the likeand the container is loaded into a blast hole slightly larger indiameter than the container. In the'first method the blast hole is wellfilled with-a low density blasting agent. In the second case the blasthole is only partially filled with a high density blasting agent causingpoor coupling. In either method the full potential of the blast hole andexplosive is not utilized.

Bulk loading is generally accomplished by blowing ablasting agent into aborehole from a hose located near ground level thus achieving nearly thesame results as in the method of pouring the explosive from a package.

' It is often desirable,'however, to increase the amount of blastingagent in the borehole by compacting the generally low density blastingagent.

The method and apparatus of the present invention now allows for thebulk loading and compacting of boreholes and other containers with aparticulate material to increase the loaded density thereof. It isespecially useful where the material to be packed comprises particlesofa range of different sizes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The apparatus of the present inventioncomprises a butt which decreases incross-sectional area from the base tothe top thereof and having attached thereto a support means forattaching and aligning the butt a distance from the discharge end of adelivery conduit so that the top of the butt faces the discharge end andLII the longitudinal axis of the butt is substantially aligned with thelongitudinal axis of the discharge end of the delivery conduit.

In the method of the present invention a low density particulatematerial is discharged from the delivery conduit and into a containerwhile the him is oscillated in a generally vertical direction. Becausethe butt of the apparatus is tapered the flow of particles from theconduit is diverted in an outwardly direction. The oscillation of thebutt compacts the particulate material into the container. Also, becausethe butt is tapered the apparatus rises on top of the column -ofparticulate material and will not become buried therein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS. l-3 depict various embodimentsof the apparatus of the present invention wherein the apparatuscomprises a generally conical shaped butt 10, having attached thereto asupport means 11 comprising spacing member 12 and fastening means 13 forattaching and aligning the butt to a delivery conduit.

FIG. 4 illustrates (partially in schematic) an apparatus of theinvention having a means for oscillating the butt independently of thedelivery hose. I

FIG. 5 illustrates partially in schematic the operation of the apparatusshown in FIG. 1 in the method of the present invention.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION In general, cylindrical orpolygonal, e.g. square, triangular, frustoms, or any other shaped butt10 having various cross-sectional shapes can be employed. At least aportion of the butt should be tapered (i.e. decrease in cross-sectionalarea from the base to the top). 1

The base of the butt is generally flat, but preferably it is slightlyconvexed. The latter shape allows for easier manipulation of theapparatus when filling containers with a particulate material. The planeof the base is generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of thebutt.

The buttcan be constructed of any suitable material. It can be solid orhollow and can be constructed of, for example, cementitious types ofmaterials, e.g., plastics, concrete, .wood or metal such as, forexample, steel, aluminum or the like. It also can behollow to decreasethe weight thereof and in this instance may be constructedof, forexample, steel, aluminum, various alloys, plastics or other similarmaterials.

- The size of the butt is not critical to the practice of the invention.However, preferably the cross-sectional area at the base of the butt isat least as large as the The support means 11 attached to the butt maybe of any convenient, desirable design. Three embodiments are shown inFIGS. l-3 but the invention is not limited thereto. The support means 11must generally be of a type such that the top of the butt can be alignedto face the opening of the discharge Conduit a distance therefrom, withthe longitudinal axis of the butt generally aligned with thelongitudinal axis of the discharge conduit. Also the support means 1 1must have sufficient structural strength and rigidity such that it willnot give or break during the loading or compacting operation.

One simple design for the support means 11 is shown in FIG. 3. Itcomprises at least one spacing member 12 firmly attached to the butt land extending above the top thereof. The spacing member 12 is attachedto a delivery hose such as, for example, by tape, metal clamps or thelike.

FIGS. 1 and 2 depict additional embodiments 0 suitable support means 1 lfor affixing and aligning the butt in the proper position. In FIG. 1 thesupport means 11 comprises a plurality of spacing members 12 firmlyattached to the butt 10 and extending above the 'top thereof. Theopposite ends of the spacing members 12 are affixed to a fastening means13 for attaching the spacing members 12 to the discharge end of adelivery conduit. In FIG. 1 the fastening means 13 comprises a femalethreaded coupling which is attached to a suita-- ble-male couplingattached to the end of a delivery conduit. The reverse type of threadedcoupling is also suitable. In FIG. 2 only one spacing member 12 isemployed and the fastening means 13 comprises a screw clamp mechanism.As can be envisioned, many other suitable support means 11 for attachingand aligning the butt 10 a distance from the open end of the deliveryconduit can be employed. The important features, however, must be thatthe top of the butt 10 is aligned to face the open end of the dischargeconduit a distance therefrom so that the longitudinal axis of the buttis substantially in align with the longitudinal axis of the dischargeconduit.

In the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 the butt is oscillated byoscillating the delivery conduit to which it is attached. However, theapparatus may be so designed that the butt can be oscillatedindependently of the delivery conduit. The exact means employed tooscillate the butt independently of the delivery conduit is not criticalto the practice of the invention. For illustrative purposes one meansfor oscillating the butt independently of the delivery conduit isillustrated in FIG. 4.

In FIG. 4 the butt 10 is hollow and is slidably engaged to a spacingmember 12 which is in turn associated with a motor 14 (e.g., electric orair) which is slidably engaged to the, butt 10 through means 15. Themotor is activated through connection 16 (e.g., which is a compressedair hose or electricalconnection); the connection 16 also being slidablyengaged .through the butt 10. The motor, spacing member and butt areassociated so that in operation the motor 14, when activated, causes.

the butt 10 to oscillate in a generally vertical direction beneath thedischarge. end of the conduit 17. The motor 14 employed is not criticalto the practice of the present invention and may comprise a standard airmotor design such as employed on sand rammers, air hammers and the like.Examples of such air motors 7 may be found in Compression Air and GasHandbook,

3rd Ed. 1961.

In the practice of the present invention, the apparatus is attached tothe discharge end of a delivery conduit which is employed to deliver afree flowing particulate material into a suitable container. In FIG. 5,an apparatus having a stationary butt (as illustrated in FIGS. l-3) isshown attached to a delivery conduit 17 which is attached to a deliverypump 18, e.g., a bulk loader, air blower or the like, which is in turnattached to a supply source, e.g., a delivery truck, etc., for theparticulate material being loaded, e.g., a dry particulate blastingagent, grain or the like (not shown). In this em-.

bodiment an automatic oscillator 19, e.g., an air driven motor with anoffset cam, is attached near the discharge end of the delivery conduit17 so that the hose is automatically oscillated in a generally verticaldirection as the particulate material is loaded into a container 20(e.g., a borehole). The automatic oscillator 19, however, is notessential, for the delivery conduit may be oscillated, for example, byan operator holding the delivery conduit. Likewise, an apparatus havinga butt which oscillates independently (e.g., FIG. 4) can be employed.

In operation the particulate material flows from the discharge end ofthe conduit 17 and past the butt 10 of the apparatus so that it isthrown out in a generally sideways direction. The butt is oscillated upand down and in contact with the material as it is loaded into thecontainer, thus packing it more tightly. Because of the tapered shape ofthe butt it tends to ride on top of the packed material 21 and does notbecome embedded therein.

If the apparatus has a butt which independently oscillates, as forexample, as illustrated in FIG. 4 the delivery hose 1? need not beoscillated as illustrated in FIG. 5 (although it can be if desired).

EXAMPLE I In this example the apparatus (tamping device) of the presentinvention comprised a conical shaped butt made of an epoxy resin havinga base about 3 inches in diameter and a vertical height of about 4 and Ainches. The support means consisted of three /s-inch diameter steel rodsspaced apart and embedded in the top portion of the butt. They extendedabove the top of the body. The delivery hose employed consisted of a0.75 inch inside diameter hose connected to a bulk loader for ametallized dry blasting agent. The bulk loader was a Swedish ANOL airpowered loader. The apparatus (tamping device) was attached to thedischarge end of the hose with the top of the cone placed about 1 inchfrom the open end of the hose. The blasting agent to be loaded has apour density of about 0.877 grams/cc and a packed density (by hand) ofabout 1.03 grams/cc. To simulate a borehole, a cardboard tubeapproximately 6 inches in diameter and 4 feet long was employed.

As a control the indicated dry blasting agent was blown into a tube fromthe top at about 50 psi pressure thus simulating the presently acceptedfield practice of.

was manually oscillated at about 200 to 250 oscillations per minute witha vertical displacement of about 3 inches. The'blasting agent was loadedagain at a pressure of about 50 psi as in the control run. During theloading there was no tendency at any time for the conical shaped tampingdevice to become embedded in the dry blasting agent, but instead it rodeup on the top of the column of blasting agent. In this run the tubepacked to a density of 12.88 pounds/lineal foot or a specific gravity of1.06 thus showing an improvement in both density and total contents overmerely blowing or pouring the dry blasting agent into the tube or evenhand packingit.

In the bulk loading ofa dry particulate blasting agent into a boreholein the field a delivery hose with a tamping device as described hereinis attached to the discharge end thereof and lowered to the bottom ofthe blast hole. A rapid vertical oscillation of about 200 cycles perminute with some vertical displacement is begun and the blasting agentis blown into the blast hole from a bulk loading delivery truck. Theblasting agent is made up of various sized particles. The tamper movesand shakes these particles causing them to fit among each other in a wayto create a mixture containing fewer voids. Furthermore, the tampingaction of the device compacts the placed blasting agent to a higherdensity than is achieved without the use of'such an apparatus.

' What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus which comprises, in combination:

a. a butt at least a portion of which tapers in crosssectional area fromthe base to the top thereof,

a delivery conduit having a discharge opening at one end,

c. a support means one end attached to the butt and the other endattached to the discharge end of said conduit, said top of the buttsupported a distance from and facing the open end of the deliveryconduit, and the longitudinal axis of the butt substantially alignedwith the longitudinal axis of the discharge end of the delivery conduit,

d. in cooperation with said butt a means for oscillating said butt in adirection along said longitudinal axis, and

e. a means in cooperation with said delivery conduit for supplyingparticulate material to said delivery conduit under pressure, 1

2. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the support meanscomprises at least one spacing member attached to the butt and extendingabove the top thereof.

3. The apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein the support meansincludes in addition attached to the end of the spacing member oppositeto the end attached to the butt a means for fastening the spacing memberto said discharge end ofa delivery conduit.

4. Theapparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the support meanscomprises at least one spacing member attached to the butt and extendingabove the top thereof, and a means attached to the other end ofthespacing member for fastening the spacing member to the discharge end ofsaid delivery conduit 4 5. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 whereinthe butt is slidably engaged to the support means, and said means.

6. The apparatus as defined in claim 5 wherein the support meanscomprises at least one spacing member extending above the top of saidbutt and slidably engaged thereto at one end, and a means for fasteningthe spacing member to the discharge end of said delivery conduitattached to the other end of the spacing member, the butt is hollow andthe motor is an air motor associated with the hollow interior of thebutt in a manner to oscillate the butt on the spacing member when themotor is activated.

7. An apparatus which comprises, in combination:

a. a hollow butt which tapers in cross-sectional area from the base tothe top thereof,

b. a delivery conduit having a discharge opening at one end,

c. at least one support member slidably engaged through the wall of thebutt with one end extending into the hollow interior thereof, the otherend of the spacing member extending above the top of the butt andattached to said discharge end of said delivery conduit, said top of thebutt supported a distance from and facing the open end of said conduit,and the longitudinal axis of the butt substantially aligned with thelongitudinal axis of the discharge end of said conduit,

. a motor attached to the interior of the butt and to the end of thesupport member extending into the butt in a manner to oscillate the button the support member when the motor is activated,

e. a means for activating the motor slidably engaged through the wall ofthe butt and connected to the motor, and

f. a means, in cooperation with said delivery conduit, for supplyingparticulate material to said delivery conduit under pressure.

8. The apparatus as defined in claim 7 wherein the motor is an air motorand the means for activating the motor is a conduit for transporting agas under pressure to operate the motor.

9. A method for delivering and compacting particles into a containerwhich comprises:

a. introducing the particles into a container through a delivery conduitby gas flow under pressure;

deflecting the particles as they are discharged from the open-end of thedelivery conduit by a butt fastened to the discharge end of the conduitand in the stream of the discharged particles by a support means, thebutt being tapered in cross-sectional area from the base to the topthereof;

c. oscillating the butt in a generally vertical direction;

and

. contacting the base of the oscillating butt with particles in thecontainer during their discharge therein to continuously compact theminto the container while it is being filled.

10. The method asdefined in claim 9 wherein the particles areconstituents of an explosive composition,

' and the container is a borehole which is at least partially filledwith the explosive.

1. An apparatus which comprises, in combination: a. a butt at least aportion of which tapers in cross-sectional area from the base to the topthereof, b. a delivery conduit having a discharge opening at one end, c.a support means one end attached to the butt and the other end attachedto the discharge end of said conduit, said top of the butt supported adistance from and facing the open end of the delivery conduit, and thelongitudinal axis of the butt substantially aligned with thelongitudinal axis of the discharge end of the delivery conduit, d. incooperation with said butt a means for oscillating said butt in adirection along said longitudinal axis, and e. a means in cooperationwith said delivery conduit for supplying particulate material to saiddelivery conduit under pressure.
 1. An apparatus which comprises, incombination: a. a butt at least a portion of which tapers incross-sectional area from the base to the top thereof, b. a deliveryconduit having a discharge opening at one end, c. a support means oneend attached to the butt and the other end attached to the discharge endof said conduit, said top of the butt supported a distance from andfacing the open end of the delivery conduit, and the longitudinal axisof the butt substantially aligned with the longitudinal axis of thedischarge end of the delivery conduit, d. in cooperation with said butta means for oscillating said butt in a direction along said longitudinalaxis, and e. a means in cooperation with said delivery conduit forsupplying particulate material to said delivery conduit under pressure.2. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the support meanscomprises at least one spacing member attached to the butt and extendingabove the top thereof.
 3. The apparatus as defined in claim 2 whereinthe support means includes in addition attached to the end of thespacing member opposite to the end attached to the butt a means forfastening the spacing member to said discharge end of a deliveryconduit.
 4. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the supportmeans comprises at least one spacing member attached to the butt andextending above the top thereof, and a means attached to the other endof the spacing member for fastening the spacing member to the dischargeend of said delivery conduit.
 5. The apparatus as defined in claim 1wherein the butt is slidably engaged to the support means, and saidoscillating means consists of a motor attached to the butt in a mannerto oscillate the butt along the support means.
 6. The apparatus asdefined in claim 5 wherein the support means comprises at least onespacing member extending above the top of said butt and slidably engagedthereto at one end, and a means for fastening the spacing member to thedischarge end of said delivery conduit attached to the other end of thespacing member, the butt is hollow and the motor is an air motorassociated with the hollow interior of the butt in a manner to oscillatethe butt on the spacing member when the motor is activated.
 7. Anapparatus which comprises, in combination: a. a hollow butt which tapersin cross-sectional area from the base to the top thereof, b. a deliveryconduit having a discharge opening at one end, c. at least one supportmember slidably engaged through the wall of the butt with one endextending into the hollow interior thereof, the other end of the spacingmember extending above the top of the butt and attached to saiddischarge end of said delivery conduit, said top of the butt supported adistance from and facing the open end of said conduit, and thelongitudinal axis of the butt substantially aligned with thelongitudinal axis of the discharge end of said conduit, d. a motorattached to the interior of the butt and to the end of the supportmember extending into the butt in a manner to oscillate the butt on thesupport member when the motor is activated, e. a means for activatingthe motor slidably engaged through the wall of the butt and connected tothe motor, and f. a means, in cooperation with said delivery conduit,for supplying particulate material to said delivery conduit underpressure.
 8. The apparatus as defined in claim 7 wherein the motor is anair motor and the means for activating the motor is a conduit fortransporting a gas under pressure to operate the motor.
 9. A method fordelivering and compacting particles into a container which comprises: a.introducing the particles into a container through a delivery conduit bygas flow under pressure; b. deflecting the particles as they aredischarged from the open-end of the delivery conduit by a butt fastenedto the discharge end of the conduit and in the stream of the dischargedparticles by a support means, the butt being tapered in cross-sEctionalarea from the base to the top thereof; c. oscillating the butt in agenerally vertical direction; and d. contacting the base of theoscillating butt with particles in the container during their dischargetherein to continuously compact them into the container while it isbeing filled.